Oct. 31, 2008

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - The Saint Joseph's women's soccer team needed to win to keep its Atlantic 10 playoff hopes alive Friday versus George Washington. Unfortunately for the Hawks, they dropped the much-needed contest, 3-2, to the Colonials on a cold evening at Finnesey Field.

George Washington jumped out to a 1-0 advantage in the 12th minute. With the ball in the Saint Joseph's box, the Colonials' Keara Mehlert gathered the ball and lifted a pass to teammate Brittany Eger, who headed a ball past Saint Joseph's junior goalkeeper Megan Bastianelli at 11:14.

The Hawks wasted little time answering back as George Washington took down a SJU player inside the Colonials box, leading to a penalty kick. On the decisive kick, Saint Joseph's junior Sarah O'Malley drove a shot to the lower right corner past goalkeeper Lindsey Rowe to tie the game at 1-1 at the 15:00 mark.

The Colonials regained their lead at 30:44 as Mehlert took a pass from teammate Meg Pyle and beat Bastianelli to her left from the top right of the SJU box.

Despite trailing by one at the half, the Hawks regrouped and took advantage of a GW turnover deep in the Colonials' zone. With the ball in the George Washington box, Saint Joseph's sophomore Lauren Sawyer stole a pass and found teammate Jen Pfeiffer. Pfeiffer quickly touched the ball and drove the tying goal into the upper left corner at 56:21.

For the second straight time, George Washington answered a Saint Joseph's goal, this time tallying the decisive mark at 74:45. Mehlert played the ball up the right side of the Hawks' zone, and quickly lobbed a crossing pass towards the SJU box. After a bounce towards the goal, teammate Kristen Slack tracked the free ball and headed it off the turf and into the back of the net past a charging Bastianelli.

The Hawks posted two shots over the remaining time, but neither reached the back of the net.

For the game, Saint Joseph's out shot GW 17-12 with each team receiving five corner kicks apiece.

Between the pipes, Bastianelli made three saves in the tough-fought loss.

Saint Joseph's caps its season this Sunday at home versus Richmond at 2:30 p.m.